At wwdc, Apple announced that a total of 6 retailers; Walgreens, Kohl’s, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Donuts, Panera Bread, and Wegmans, would have NFC enabled loyalty cards that integrated with Apple Pay upon the release of Apple Wallet. This weekend I went to Walgreens to see if they held up on their end of the deal. Here’s a video showing what I found out.
The Verdict
To my disappointment, Walgreens NFC enabled loyalty card didn’t work as expected. The NFC terminal was able to read the card, it’s just that it didn’t go through. However, it does appear upon further research that this may in fact not be Walgreens fault, but actually the fault of the NFC terminal itself. The NFC terminal must be enabled to read passes, so my guess is that it is not the pass that has a problem, but rather the terminal.
By now, almost all Walgreens should be able to accept an NFC enabled loyalty card(this test was on the day it was released). So head to your local Walgreens and see if yours works.
Walgreens NFC enabled loyalty card
Walgreens Balance Rewards cards are now showing that they are NFC enabled within Apple Wallet. MacRumors has reported that many people have also experienced errors like me when attempting to use the pass. It shouldn’t be long until they’re all working.
Side note- Why a paper receipt?
The only reason I accepted the paper receipt in the video is because I wanted to see the status of my Balance Rewards card. But under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t need to, Apple Pay gave me an overview of my transaction within Apple Wallet.
If you did need the full version of your receipt, you can just check your online bank statement. This is why I’m really hoping that in the near future the computer does not print a receipt when using Apple Pay. It’s simply not necessary.
Let me know if your Walgreens NFC enabled loyalty card worked for you. Know of any other places with NFC enabled loyalty cards? Let me know in the comments so I can go check it out.
